Your arraignment is the first court appearance you will have in your DUI criminal proceedings. The arraignment provides you with your first opportunity to plead guilty, not guilty, or “no contest” to your California DUI charges. You may qualify for a public defender, in which case, you will be counseled prior to pleading guilty, if that is what you choose to do. Consequently, you have the opportunity to be sentenced immediately. However, if you have a viable defense, you may not see it in the initial reports and that is why many people choose to hire private counsel, especially if the law firm offers a payment plan, such as San Diego Defenders. Many times, people call a law firm and express how difficult it is to get a job with a DUI on their record. “I should have stopped to think of the consequences” is what is said. There are four divisions of the Superior Court in San Diego County. San Diego Central (Downtown San Diego), South Bay Division (Chula Vista), East County (El Cajon), and North County Division (Vista). This article links you with the map to each location. If you plead not guilty a future date (Readiness Conference) will be set for 4-6 weeks out. It will be noted if you have an attorney and if you do not you may be assigned a Public Defender. If you hire a private attorney, in between your Arraignment and Readiness you or your San Diego DUI lawyer will be able review the prosecution’s evidence (discovery). This includes a copy of the police report, any recordings visual or audio and access to the maintenance records of the testing instrument(s) that were used. If you or a loved one has been charged with a DUI or related crimes please contact our office at (619)233-6900 for a free and confidential consultation with an experienced attorney.

Big Game Day Sunday is almost here! This is a time when most of us go to our favorite sports bar or pack the fridge full of beers and invite our friends over to watch the most anticipated sporting event of the year. In Chula Vista and throughout San Diego, CHP and the San Diego Police Department will be conducting DUI checkpoints (like the video link describes) and will have additional units on the lookout for drunk drivers. If you wonder where I can look for scheduled checkpoints in Chula Vista, just remeber to check our link put together by Chula Vista Defenders Criminal Defense staff. Drinking and driving after watching the Game at a friend’s house, restaurant, or sports bar could result in a license suspension by the DMV that could cause you to lose your job. Whether you are in Chula Vista, San Diego, Vista, Escondido, El Cajon or even Tijuana, or TJ as we locals call it, you have to get home. So plan ahead. Taxis may be booked, so now may be a good time to find a designated driver. Call MADD or the taxi organizations to find out what special programs are out there to help you.

Have a designated driver ready to help you enjoy the Big Game. If you or a friend get stopped and arrested for a DUI call San Diego Defenders 24 hours a day at 619-258-8888 to talk to a lawyer from the firm. We can answer questions about what jail your loved one is in, who to call for bail and how to get your life back to normal.

Even though every international border crossing, such as the Tijuana and San Diego Border is a federal reserve or reservation, most state crimes, such as DUI or drinking while driving are prosecuted in state courts. The closest California state court to the border is Chula Vista. The typical scenario is that a driver will talk to a customs or border patrol officer at the crossing while declaring their citizenship and the officer smells alcohol and observes bloodshot and watery eyes together with slurred speech and will refer that driver to secondary inspection. The Customs agent will usually call the CHP or local San Diego Police Department to “investigate” and a DUI arrest results. Technically there is jurisdiction in Federal Court, like there is for border busts involving the importation of drugs, however, there is “concurrent” jurisdiction allowing the state court and district attorney to prosecute the case. So if you have any question regarding whether your rights were violated at the border, San Diego Defenders can be reached at (619) 258-8888 24 hrs a day there will be an actual attorney to speak to about your case.

This year seven states have pending legislation or ballot measures regarding the legalization of marijuana. This comes amid the administation’s crackdown on legal dispensaries in California and Colorado. There is an evident disconnect between the apparent goals of the administration and many of the individual states’ views on the matter.

A record number of Americans now favor legalization. Many have come to understand the enormous amount of time, money and other available resources that are expended unsuccessfully trying to curb the use of this once legal substance. Billions of dollars are spent annually in enforcement, eradication and incarceration. Isn’t a more common sense approach to tax and legalize? This is what many citizens and politicians are beginning to think.

But acceptance of this idea is far from universal. The president would not be engaging in the current crackdown if he didn’t think there was political capital to be gained. Even the scandalous “Fast and Furious” program engineered by the Department of Justice has done little to derail the vast majority’s support of the war on drugs.

But as in any war, the first casualty is truth. The truth is that marijuana is not the menace it is portrayed to be. The war on drugs kills people and ruins lives. Most of the people in prison in this country are there for drug related offenses. People who get high on marijuana don’t kill people. Drug enforcement agents do.

But this is an emotional issue for many, much as the war of prohibition on alcohol was in the last century. There are many parallels. For instance, prohibition creates a culture of gangsterism. This was true in Al Capone’s day and it is true now. The drug cartels of today are just the political and economic descendants of the gangsters of old. When alcohol was re-legalized, the bootlegging gangsters disappeared. Unfortunately the law enforcement apparatus created to combat them did not.

But it seems we never learn. Prohibition has never worked and it never will. As long as there are disproportionate profits to be made, the gangsterism will continue and innocent people will continue to die.

It is that time of year again. The sun is shining, the beaches are hopping and the police are arresting tourists like nobody’s business. Whether it is the California Highway Patrol, San Diego Police or any of the other law enforcement agencies in the county, many of our out of town visitors are getting arrested by the police. Frankly, they make easy targets. They are out enjoying themselves and often are not familiar with the area, so it is easy to catch them in some minor traffic violation and use that as an excuse to see if they have been drinking.

Getting arrested while on vacation in San Diego can be a terrible experience. First, it is a real downer for the vacation. Then, you have to figure out how to handle your court case. Don’t think that just because you live out of the State that you do not have to deal with it. You will have a warrant issued for your arrest and can have your home State’s driver’s license suspended.

You can hire a private DUI attorney in San Diego to help you out. The consultation and retainer can be done over the phone and through the mail. If it is a misdemeanor, you will not have to come to court, your private DUI lawyer can make all the court appearances for you. Plus, an experienced DUI lawyer will know how to handle the case and get you the best possible result.

As always, we at San Diego Defenders, encourage you to drink responsibly and do not drive when drinking. With that in mind, we all have places that we would like to go on Memorial Day Weekend to enjoy the festivities offered throughout the County. Sometimes getting to an event on time makes all the difference between having an okay time and having a fantastic time. We will be telling you about the DUI checkpoints in San Diego County that may cause you a delay in getting to your event in a timely manner. You can look for specifics on our Facebook page and don’t forget to ‘Like’ us!

Some of you may remember in October of 2008 then candidate Obama promised that he would keep his administration’s hands off the medical marijuana industry in those states which have such programs. That was more or less true until October of 2011 when the DEA and assorted other alphabet soup agencies started the crackdown which has continued unabated until the present time.

In a ham handed pre-election effort to appear tough on crime, hundreds of dispensaries in San Diego county have been shuttered despite the fact that the operations were in compliance with state and local law. Only a handful remain in operation, and for those, the every day question is “when will the hammer fall”?

It is significant to note that Mr. Jillette is a user neither of drugs nor alcohol. While it is his business to provide snarky commentary on the day’s events, the points he makes are valid. The war on drugs, especially on medical marijuana is a travesty. It has done infinitely more harm than good. Even the comedians get that.

DUI Checkpoint scheduled for Chula Vista tomorrow night! The Chula Vista Police Department Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License checkpoint on 05/19/12, within the city limits between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. Checkpoints are placed in locations that have the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence and provide the greatest safety for officers and the public.

Officers will be contacting motorists passing through looking for signs of alcohol or drug impairment. Drivers caught driving impaired may expect jail time, license suspension, thousands of dollars in fines and insurance increases.

The San Diego Sheriff in association with the San Diego County DUI task force will be conducting DUI checkpoints in Escondido, Imperial Beach and around San Diego State University between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on Saturday May 5th. San Diego will also be deploying DUI saturation patrols around San Diego County.

Watch DUI attorney, Jon M. Pettis, explain what to do if stopped at a DUI checkpoint or stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence. These and other information videos are available at our Youtube page.

If you or a loved one are charged with a DUI or related crime and would like a free and confidential consultation with an experienced lawyer, please call our office at (619)258-8888.